LOBELIACE^E COMPOSITES 431 



L. LOBELlACE^E. LOBELIA FAMILY. 



Herbs: leaves alternate or radical, simple: flowers scattered, 

 racemed or panicled, often leafy-bracted; calyx- tube adherent to 

 ovary; corolla irregular, monopetalous, 5-lobed, usually split on one 

 side; stamens 5, usually united, at least by anthers, about the 1 

 style; stigma 2-lobed: fruit a capsule, loculicidally 2-valved. 



LOBELIA. 



Flowers often showy, axillary and solitary, or in terminal bracted 

 racemes; corolla as if 2-lipped; stamens generally unequal, monadelphous, 2 

 or all of the 5 anthers bearded at the top. Many species. 



L. cardinalis, Linn. Cardinal flower. Indian pink. A showy plant 

 of swampy or moist soil, also cultivated: tall, simple stem, 2-4 ft., with 

 showy, deep-red flowers (rarely pale colored), about 1 in. long, bracted, in 

 terminal racemes: leaves sessile, lance-oblong, slightly toothed. 



L. Erinus, Linn. The common, pretty, annual trailing or spreading 

 Lobelia of gardens and greenhouses: flowers many, small, very blue, usually 

 with white throats (varying to whitish): lower leaves spatulate; upper 

 narrow, toothed. 



L. syphilitica, Linn. Stem erect to 1-3 ft., angular, heavy: leaves 

 oblong-ovate, irregularly serrate: flowers in terminal, leafy raceme; flowers 

 intense blue (or white), 1 in. or more long; calyx hairy or hispid, lobes 

 auricled at base, dentate. Perennial, in low or marshy grounds or along 

 streams. Late summer. 



L. spicata, Lam. Erect smoothish stems, 1-3 ft., sparingly leafy, the 

 terminal raceme with linear, small bracts: leaves oblong, upper small and 

 narrow: flowers small, pale blue; calyx-lobes not auricled at base, entire. 

 Dry, sandy soil. 



L. inflata, Linn. Indian tobacco. Erect, 9-12 in., rather hairy, branch- 

 ing: leaves ovate, toothed: flowers small, J^ in. long, pale blue, in loose, 

 racemes, leafy-bracted: capsules inflated, large. Common in fields-; juice 

 pungent-poisonous. 



LI. COMPOSITE. COMPOSITE or SUNFLOWER FAMILY. 



Mostly herbs, many of them very large, very various in foliage: 

 flowers small, densely packed into an involucrate head, 5-merous; 

 the corolla of the outer ones often developed into long rays; stamens 

 5, the anthers united around the 2 styles: fruit dry and 1-seeded, 

 indehiscent, usually crowned with a pappus which represents a calyx. 

 The largest of all phenogamous families, comprising about one-tenth 

 of all flowering plants, about 800 genera and 11,000-12,000 species. 

 Common composites are sunflower, aster, goldenrod, boneset, dahlia, 

 chrysanthemum, marigold, compass plant, thistles, dandelion, lettuce. 



